The Association of School Principals has hit out again at the Ministry of Education’s decision to parachute an executive principal into Prospect Primary School amid concerns about student performance.The organisation issued a fresh statement yesterday over the row, which saw Ministry official Terry Cox brought into the struggling school on January 6 to take on some of the responsibilities of existing principal Shangri-La Durham-Thompson.It claimed the decision comprised the law, had caused the school and its staff to be treated unfairly and could only serve to “disrupt the learning environment and to negatively impact teaching and learning”.The ASP paid for the statement to be printed in full as an advert in The Royal Gazette today (see below).Likening the intervention to a hostile takeover, the group said: “The ASP feels so strongly that this is not the leadership direction we need to take in order to achieve sustainable reform of our school system, that it has filed two grievances against the Commissioner of Education, to date, on various issues related to this decision.”The Department of Education said on January 6 that Ms Cox’s appointment was made in accordance with the Education Act and was in line with recommendations in the Hopkins Report on public schools.The Department said Education Commissioner Wendy McDonell held authority under the Act to make changes in “principal or teaching staff”, adding: “The Commissioner has developed the strategy of using an executive principal to partner with an existing principal so as to significantly improve student outcomes and change the culture of student performance.”It added that improving the “culture and climate” of schools was one of the key planks of its Blueprint for Reform in Education and Prospect, which is in Devonshire, had been identified as a low-performing school.The principals’ union, however, yesterday called the intervention sudden and disruptive and a breach of its collective bargaining agreement with Government.“The Ministry has informed the school staff and the ASP that this intervention is to be the first of many. We have no idea which schools will be next as the Ministry has, to date, not informed any schools that they are ‘low performing’, including Prospect Primary.”The ASP said it supported Government’s “commitment to the insertion of support around literacy and the curriculum”.Ms Cox’s appointment at the school was welcomed by Prospect Primary’s parent teacher association, which said the Ministry had valid reasons for its actions.Shadow Education Minister Grant Gibbons has called for Education Minister Dame Jennifer Smith to clarify how long Prospect has been low-performing and name any other schools which fall into the same category.Useful website: www.moed.bm.